Pipe Bombs Explode, Two Men Burned

INGLESIDE, Ill. (STMW) – Two friends who suffered burns are recovering at a hospital after pipe bombs they were making exploded in their faces Saturday night in the far northwestern Ingleside community.

At 6:25 p.m. emergency crews received several 911 calls from several residents, including some who were 1/4 of a mile away, who heard a loud explosion in the area of the 33,000 block of Wilson Road, according to Lake County Sheriff’s police Sgt. Timothy Jonites.

Ingleside is located between Round Lake and Fox Lake, according to Jonites, who was one of the first-responders.

Sheriff’s police on their way to the scene then received 911 calls from the injured victims, 20-year-old Kristopher Carlson — who took “the brunt’’ of the explosion — and his friend, 19-year-old Frank Dumelle.

The two had been inside a barn on the property and were “kid being kids,” making the bombs out of plastic piping and gunpowder when their antics “went terribly wrong,’’ and they exploded, according to Jonites.

“Carlson took brunt in the face and chest. He has major facial and chest injuries,’’ Jonites said. “He was in pretty bad shape, he had a lot of shrapnel to the face.’’

Both were rushed to Centegra Northern Illinois Medical Center in McHenry but then transferred to the burn unit at Rockford Memorial Hospital in Rockford. As of last night, Carlson remained in critical condition, and Dumelle, of Round Lake, was in serious condition, the sergeant said.

Carlson’s grandfather owns a house on the property, where a family tree service business is also located.

The sergeant said the victims may have been preparing to make a bonfire with other friends when it occurred. They do not have a history of doing anything similar, and they have not been charged with anything as of Sunday afternoon.

“I don’t think they are terrorists or a domestic threat,’’ Jonites said. “They were not making these to harm anyone.’’
The sergeant said the investigation is continuing.